Micarta handles

M

madjack

Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
133
Can anyone tell me what micarta handles are made from. Is it wood, or polymer, or some other process... What can you do and not do to them..What can you use to clean them..Soap and water? chemicals?

thanks,
jack
 
madjack go to the bussecombat website it is at the top of this page i asked the same question about cleaning and it is a great website they are great for helping out newbies like me. BUSSE KNIFES RULE
 
my understanding is that micarta is a set of sheets of whatever matieral you choose to use, with a layer of epoxy between each. they are then pressed and dried.

the common micarta's being linen, canvas, and paper. there are others such as burlap, rage, and a million variations on color. ariel on the forums has a few threads describing making your own.
 
Strictly speaking, Micarta(TM) was the brand name of an electrical insulator product developed in the early 1900s by Westinghouse, which is no more. It was used inside large distribution breakers (among other things) due to its great strength and wear characteristics. It is precisely that nature that makes is such a good material for knife handles.
The name has passed into the common vernacular, like Kleenex and Xerox, and is used to describe many epoxy soaked, laid-up materials, which is where we get things like rag micarta made by Joe Blow. As I understand it, G10 and G11 are very similar, but the substrate is different.

http://www.norplex-micarta.com/companyprofile/index.php is apparently the descendant of the original manufacturing facilities.
 
Micarta is phenolic resin reinforced with paper, linen, or canvas. G10 is epoxy resin reinforced with woven fiber glass.
 
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